O Lord and _Leader_! "Give ear, O Thou that rulest Israel, Thou that
_leadest_ Joseph like a sheep!" ("Introit" for Advent II and "Gradual"
for Advent III). This is the idea in the Church's cry to-day, she is
saluting her General. He it is Who though as yet hidden is nevertheless
leading all. He it is Who slowly though surely has been leading the
world through many phases till it is ready for its Creator to come and
live upon it. He it is Who has led Joseph like a sheep--carefully
watched over the chosen nation, because He Himself, when the time came,
was to be born in it. He it is Who led the prophets, carefully guiding
their hands to write of Him and making their prophecies more and more
lucid as the day approached. He it is Who is now leading the whole world
and placing everybody in his own city. He it is Who is leading Joseph
away from Nazareth. He it is Who is leading His own Mother over every
step of that difficult and tiring journey, letting the joy in His own
Heart overflow into hers; and He is _my_ Leader too. With such a
General, nothing will be overlooked in my life; everything will be
arranged in wisdom and love. I need have no fear, no anxiety on that
account; but such a Leader expects a whole-hearted, unswerving
allegiance from His followers. He expects not only their obedience, but
their loyalty and their love. Does He demand these by force? No, for He
is a _Leader_, not a driver. "He calleth His own sheep by name and
_leadeth_ them.... He goeth before them and the sheep follow Him" (St.
John X. 3, 4). What are His methods? The Incarnation with all its
consequences. He made Himself a _man_, not an angel, because He wanted
to attract man to Himself, to win his love. He identified Himself with
man, because He wanted man to identify himself with Him. The church, the
Holy Eucharist, the Tabernacle, Holy Communion, His Sacred Heart--all
these are to attract men to follow Him. He is there in each of these
going before and leading men on. He is appealing to them now from the
womb of His Mother, suggesting to them that they should choose suffering
and humiliation and the hidden life, because He chose them and loved
them and submitted to them for us; they were His methods, and His object
in becoming incarnate for us was to win our love to such an extent that
we should take Him as our Leader and adopt His methods.
Oh! come, little Leader, come and redeem us. I for one am determined to
follow wheresoever Thou dost lead, "in what place soever Thou shalt be,
my Lord King, either in death or in life there will Thy servant be" (2
Kings XV. 21). "Behold I have given Him for a Leader" (Is. LV. 4).